McDonald's goes public with nutrition info

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Firing back at its nutrition critics, McDonald's Corp. said Tuesday it will begin packaging most of its foods next year with information telling customers how much calories, protein, and fat are in them.

In a first for its industry, McDonald's
MCD
said Big Macs, French fries and chicken sandwiches will be wrapped in packages citing nutritional information in numerals and an icon-and-bar-chart form by late 2006. The world's largest fast-food restaurant chain will introduce the new packaging at McDonald's restaurants at the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, in February.

Two years in the making, the move underscores McDonald's efforts to shift public perception about fast food being unhealthy to the consumer's responsibility to manage their own food choices.

"This is an open window on McDonald's food," said Cathy Kapica, the company's global director of nutrition. "The math tells the real story -- that McDonald's has the balance consumers are looking for."

The first leg of the packaging changes will take place in 20,000 stores in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. The remaining 10,000 stores will put nutrition information in place as it becomes "locally relevant" and "commercially feasible," Chief Executive Jim Skinner said at a news conference at the chain's flagship Chicago store.

"We'll pick those off as we are able," he said. Some countries, for example, don't require nutrition information on packaging and are reluctant to allow McDonald's to do so, Skinner said.

Although the change in packaging will be pricey, Skinner said "costs were not the issue" and said they will not be material to earnings.

Company officials declined to say how much the effort will cost.

The packaging will be twinned with more detailed information on the company's Web site as a means of encouraging consumers to create their own menu. A calorie-count dieter, for example, can balance the 260 calories in a McDonald's hamburger with other foods consumed throughout the day.

The icons are innovative and, for the most part, language free. Protein, for example, has a pyramid of three building blocks, while sodium is the top of a salt shaker. Fat is shown as a tape measure and carbohydrates, which "fuel" the body, look like a gas gauge. The fifth element is calories, which is abbreviated as "cal."

The bar chart is designed to represent the average daily requirements of each element based on a 2,000-calorie diet. A dotted line on the first third of the chart depicts one-third of average daily allowance. Each element then has a percentage amount and shading in the bar.

The fat-count bar for Chicken McNuggets, for example, will say 15%, accompanied by corresponding shading of the entire bar. In the U.S., the information will also include gram counts, such as 10g for the McNuggets.

"This is easy to understand and is the next generation of nutrition information," Kapica said.

McDonald's has taken a number of steps in recent years to dispel the long-held disparagement that its food is bad for people who are watching their health or diets, with its biggest jab coming from the documentary movie "Supersize Me."

In 2003, McDonald's eliminated most of its super-sized portions and began offering fruit and juice choices, for example, in Happy Meals rather than fries and sodas. The company also launched a line of premium salads, which have been big hits among women.

McDonald's also has fended off an array of fat-related lawsuits, the most famous of which was filed in New York in 2002. The suit was filed on behalf of two obese children who claimed McDonald's failed to provide enough information about what ingredients and processing went into its food items. As a result, the two chubby children -- who consumed McDonald's products for most meals -- blamed the fast-food giant for their weight and health problems.

A federal judge ultimately tossed the case out, but not without commenting on what he called "McFrankenstein" products, or food that through processing has lost its healthful attributes.

The company also introduced a farm-to-table virtual tour of products such as the Egg McMuffin and the cheeseburger. Added Skinner: "We're committed to being transparent."

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